Him again. Their old friend, back to haunt once more. Tommy John spent 3½ seasons at the end of his storied career with the Angels, but now it’s like his presence will never leave.

Friday, the Angels announced their worst, if most familiar, kind of news: prized two-way star Shohei Ohtani was placed on the disabled list with a Grade 2 sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament. Their immediate reaction was to give him a platelet-rich plasma and stem-cell injection Thursday in an effort to avoid surgery, a procedure they have had mixed results with.

All that is certain for now is that Ohtani will begin treatment in two or three days and will be re-evaluated in three weeks. The loss of Ohtani will have the kind of ripple effect that perhaps no team has ever had to deal with: It impacts their rotation, their lineup and their marketing.

As a starting pitcher, Ohtani is 4-1 with a 3.10 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings. As a batter, he is hitting .289 with...